gaming: where should the line be drawn

[MrJoyless]

food for thought.

in movies they sometimes depict rape and horrific violence so we might actually see these eventually (can anyone say NC17 games?) but...

they still stay away from depicting violence or aggressive sexual acts towards children, so im pretty sure these things will stay out of video games.

 

[newwiseman]

There shouldn't be a line, the game developer should make what they feel is good and leave it to the market to decide if it's good. If the game is successful make more if not don't make more; SIMPLE.

The parents buying the games should be the one to take the responsibility in deciding what is right for child, they are the ones buying them after all. If a kid has a job and is spending their own money they are old enough to choose for themselves; again SIMPLE.

To quote Voltaire "common sense is not common", and what I feel should be simple is often over shadowed by groups of people looking to pass off their own responsibilities on to others rather than except they are horrible, ignorant, or plain stupid people. If you want to have a say in what your child is exposed to and how they develop then find the time to be a parent; don't be afraid of using the rod, less you wish to spoil the child.

 

[milkkart]

Bah, hemp doesn't count. You can do many things with cannabis besides getting high. =P



*I do not encourage in any way that people try to grow their own cannabis. In some nations it is illegal.

no this is definitely cannabis of the get you high variety, complete with virtual seed banks with many different strains and it has 5 very explicit guides on growing the non-virtual variety included in the help documents.

in all nations actually

actually spain for one decriminalised growing for personal use and im fairly sure there are others though i can't think of them off the top of my head (holland you would think but im not sure how the law regards growing there, decriminalisation leads to odd legeislation).

i do encourage everyone, everywhere to grow their own cannabis!
ROW ROW FIGHT THA POWAH!

 

[PurplePlatypus]

Why draw a line?
It seems so limiting considering all them topics can probably be tackled quite tactfully. Not to mention all of them topics have been covered in pretty much all other media.

 

[emeraldrafael]

So here's an old question phrased slightly differently.

Given that 99% of us agree that actions depicted and acted out in videos games won't influence what we do in real life (Murdering, stealing, mushroom taking)...is there a line that shouldn't be crossed and as such, topics that should remain taboo? examples: Murder of innocents, murder of children, rape, paedophilia, animal cruelty, genocide, I'm sure there are others that come to mind.

To keep it a little focused I'd like to say that these acts would have to be performed by the player, not by an antagonist.
Oh and what games do you think have crossed this line?

um... Well obviously paedophile. Kinda depends what you consider animal cruelty, since any action you take that sends your pet into harm (Dead to Rights: Redemption) can be considered that. I know for a fact in most games like Gun, or RDR you can kill animals in them. Like, just flat up walk up to one, put a shot gun at the back of its head and blow its brains out across the dusty street (though how killing a mutt gets me in trouble with the law I'll never understand).

They already crossed the rape line with rape lay or whatever it was called. From what I've heard about Prototype, the only hting that seperates you from the bad guys is the fact that you're not intentionally fucking shit up for the world, so he murders innocents. Kratos killed his daughter (I know, not in game gameplay, but be quiet) OH! Custer's Revenge definitely included Rape (pretty much was built on it, that crazy Swedish Erotica).

And honestly, any RTS like Civilization is really genocide at its core. Though I have to say... It would be awesome to play a genocide based game. The story would be hugely complex, giving you a sense of reason to why you're murdering the man in front of you (but that just might be me. I like to see games that push the boundaries of "conventional").

Other then that, I dont know if there is too far that we havent crossed as gamers. I think some of the japanese games that we gamers like to sweep under the rug (rape lay) so its never seen again could probably be pedophilic in some small way. And with games like Persona pretty much saying, "he, high schoolers, if you shoot yourself in the head, a monster will pop and take you on great heroic adventures" (yes, thats not what it says, and yes, I'm an advocate of everyone playing Persona 3 Fes at least once in their life), there isnt much more line to cross. I mean... yeah... You could make a game where you're a Himler and conduct the most twisted and sick experiments on Death Camp prisoners to realistic detail, or have an openly pedophilic game where thats the main point thats like a dating sim of sorts. Or... wel... I think I'll stop.

Point is, we already crossed too many bridges and bruned them behind us to say we're not pushing those issues or putting them in games.

OH! I remember a game where you kill children. Bioshock. If you kill the little sisters (yes, they're still children, technically).

 

[Jaded Scribe]

I don't think there needs to be a line. Art is sometimes about crossing over those lines.

Do I think some of the more taboo topics like pedophilia need to be in mainstream games? No. But in niche markets, as an artistic statement, I see no need to limit it.

 

[Grygor]

The only real games I'm against right now are games like RapeLay, which is somehow insanely popular and well known. Maybe it's on the border of being infamous.

RapeLay isn't really all that popular - it caters to a very small niche market, that just happens to be greatly overrepresented in certain corners of the internet.

And the only reason it's particularly well-known is because of certain high-profile "reviews" and an enormous media and politician outcry after British media found the game could be bough on Amazon.

 

[Treblaine]

So here's an old question phrased slightly differently.

Given that 99% of us agree that actions depicted and acted out in videos games won't influence what we do in real life (Murdering, stealing, mushroom taking)...is there a line that shouldn't be crossed and as such, topics that should remain taboo? examples: Murder of innocents, murder of children, rape, paedophilia, animal cruelty, genocide, I'm sure there are others that come to mind.

To keep it a little focused I'd like to say that these acts would have to be performed by the player, not by an antagonist.
Oh and what games do you think have crossed this line?

Everyone draws their own line on what THEY USE!

Don't expect one line to be drawn for all people, or even what you think are "all people" which may in fact be a minority. A significant proportion would draw the line at games being for anything other than utterly benevolent education purposes, totally against all forms of video game violence.

The lowest common denominator is so low that no one is happy.

The point is obscene works cannot be advertised or publicly displayed, that should be enough for you to avoid the worst of the worst but ultimately the best censor is your own common sense!

 

[veloper]

Aslong as it isn't publicly displayed where you cannot avoid it and the ratings on the box are clear, everything goes in games.

 

[milkkart]

Bah, hemp doesn't count. You can do many things with cannabis besides getting high. =P



*I do not encourage in any way that people try to grow their own cannabis. In some nations it is illegal.

no this is definitely cannabis of the get you high variety, complete with virtual seed banks with many different strains and it has 5 very explicit guides on growing the non-virtual variety included in the help documents.

in all nations actually

actually spain for one decriminalised growing for personal use and im fairly sure there are others though i can't think of them off the top of my head (holland you would think but im not sure how the law regards growing there, decriminalisation leads to odd legeislation).

i do encourage everyone, everywhere to grow their own cannabis!
ROW ROW FIGHT THA POWAH!

you're telling people to break the law, and decriminilized isnt the same as legal. sorry to burst your bubble

fine, even diregarding the many countries where it is decriminalised and therefore de facto legal, it is legal in peru and uraguay and legal to grow but not possess prepared for smoking in romania.
i know im telling people break the law, the illogical, harmful and utterly ridiculous law that's only still in place because politicians would feel silly admiting that the substance they've spent years going apeshit over the use of isn't actually that bad.

 

[Tron-tonian]

Well, seeing as great literature and films already cross this line, I see no reason it can't work in a game.

That being said, it's FAR more difficult to make compelling narrative out of these subjects without being seen as gratuitous than it is to just go for shock value (see also: Manhunt).

So, while I think the issue *could* be handled appropriately, I really think it'll take a ballsy indie developer to craft such a story in a way that isn't just "Kill! Rape! Molest!"

 

[Nieroshai]

The lines draw themselves based on what people do or do not actually want from a game. Also, while his staatistic may be a little too top-of-your-head, did you know that since the creation of DOOM, the male juvenile crime rate has dropped by 73%? It does influence us, but overall does not make us hateful sociopaths as a rule. Of course there are exceptions, like when Superman first came out, one of my grandmother's friends tried to fly from the top of his dad's barn. not a pretty sight.

 

[likalaruku]

I dunno. While I would never hurt an animal or even squish a spider in real life, I do so ad-nausium in games, albiet with inner guilt, though I feel no remorse at all if the apponent is human. It's like movies & books; I love those super taboo gay/stalker/incest/interpecies romaces, but I have no interest in being involved in one. It's the mystery & the tabboo & the alieneness & the fact that you'd never "do that shit" in the real world that makes games compelling. Games should "go there," & break all the rules & cross all the lines.

That's probably why GTA was so popular, & the people who really would do that kind of stuff in the real world would likely find doing same things in a game boring & unthrilling.

 

[blankedboy]

Oh and what games do you think have crossed this line?

One of the FEAR games, forgot which one, with the necrophilia scene at the end.